Thomas Persson
Biographic Data
| ID | 4371094 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Thomas Persson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Thomas |
| FAMILY NAME | Persson |
| SIGNATURE | PERSSON T |
| AFFILIATIONS | Uppsala University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8289-7469 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 26 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 291 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 26 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Speaking freely or staying silent? Self-censorship and democratic discontent in Sweden
This article examines the prevalence and patterns of self-censorship in Sweden – widely regarded as one of the world’s leading democracies – against the backdrop of global autocratization. While self-censorship is often studied in authoritarian contexts, we explore its occurrence in a democratic setting that has almost no formal constraints on free expression. Drawing on original survey data, we identify the individual-level factors associated wi…
Dimensions of disagreement in EU affairs: Is parliamentary opposition driven by left-right or European integration contestation
This study provides new insights into how the EU dimension relates to the left-right dimension in national politics. It does so by examining to what extent parties’ oppositional behaviour in EU affairs in parliament is a function of their distance from the government, other parties, the voters and party supporters on the EU dimension and the left-right dimension, respectively. The results suggest that oppositional behaviour is determined by two p…
Political intolerance in comprehensive welfare states: Evidence from Sweden
Previous research has shown that comprehensive welfare states are effective at bridging ethnic divisions and promoting political tolerance of marginalized groups. Do these results hold up in the face of the great influx of migrants into European welfare states following the 2015–16 refugee crisis? In this case study of Sweden, we map the general level of political tolerance and test various individual‐level explanations for it. Based on a survey …
Drivers of parliamentary opposition in European Union politics: Institutional Factors or Party Characteristics
A vital political opposition is one of the cornerstones of democracy, yet we know surprisingly little about the conditions that shape it. In this paper, we offer a comprehensive assessment of the drivers of parliamentary opposition in European Union (EU) politics in five countries: Denmark; Germany; Ireland; Sweden; and the United Kingdom. Based on an extensive hand-coded data set of 7,520 statements made by members of parliament (MPs) during bot…
Do Members of Parliament Express More Opposition in the Plenary than in the Committee? Comparing Frontstage and Backstage Behaviour in Five National Parliaments
This study attempts to break new ground by systematically comparing oppositional behaviour of Members of Parliament (MPs) in the two key arenas found in parliament: the plenary and the committee. Do MPs express more opposition frontstage in the plenary than backstage in the committee when discussing European affairs? The article sheds new light on political opposition in parliament by using a dataset of hand-coded statements made by MPs during pl…
Is Oppositional Behaviour in European Union Affairs Gendered? Evidence from Plenary Debates and Committee Deliberations in Four Legislatures
Is oppositional behaviour in legislatures gendered? Despite a growing literature on gender and legislative behaviour, there is a conspicuous absence of research on differences between female and male members of parliament (MPs) when it comes to one of the key aspects of parliamentary debates: the voicing of opposition. This article connects the literature on gender and legislative behaviour with opposition scholarship. We examine the role of gend…
The influence of Eurosceptic challenger parties on mainstream party behaviour: Is oppositional behaviour contagious
Previous research has looked at how Eurosceptic challenger parties can cause mainstream parties to change their policy positions and bring about adjustments to their programmes. We explore whether this contagion effect extends to the parliamentary behaviour of mainstream parties in European Union (EU) affairs. The empirical analysis is based on a large-scale study of 6215 statements made by national parliamentarians in the European Affairs Commit…
The Political Dynamics of Portfolio Design in European Democracies
The design of government portfolios – that is, the distribution of competencies among government ministries and office holders – has been largely ignored in the study of executive and coalition politics. This article argues that portfolio design is a substantively and theoretically relevant phenomenon that has major implications for the study of institutional design and coalition politics. The authors use comparative data on portfolio design refo…
Comparing oppositional behaviour in European Union affairs: Empirical Evidence From Six Member States
This article offers a comprehensive comparison of oppositional behaviour in European Union (EU) affairs in six countries: Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. By drawing on a unique data set of hand-coded statements made by Members of Parliament during European Affairs Committee (EAC) meetings it provides new knowledge on political opposition. The data uncover that there is more opposition expressed in EU affairs tha…
Eurosceptic Challenger Parties and Political Opposition in European Union Politics: Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution
Despite extensive research on Eurosceptic challenger parties, our knowledge of their influence on political opposition has so far been sparse. In this article we make an in‐depth assessment of parliamentary EU opposition, based on 4,264 statements made by national parliamentarians in the European Affairs Committees (EACs) of Denmark and Sweden. Our analysis shows that the presence of Eurosceptic challenger parties in the national parliamentary ar…
Patterns of Parliamentary Opposition: Empirical Evidence from the Deliberations in the German Bundestag’s Committee on European Union Affairs
This article examines patterns of oppositional behaviour in the German Bundestag’s Committee on European Union Affairs (EAC) for two separate legislative periods (2005–2009 and 2009–2013). The study makes two contributions to previous research. It, first, shed some much-needed empirical light on political opposition in the Bundestag by examining how much and what kind of opposition exists in the German EAC. Secondly, the article examines the diff…
The effectiveness of national and EU-level civil protection systems: Evidence From 17 Member States
A number of high profile crises and disasters have driven the EU to increase cooperation among its member states in the area of civil protection and to enhance its capacity to conduct civil protection operations in Europe and around the world. However, in the light of recent transboundary crises in the EU, manifested by the refugee crisis, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters, it is far from clear how effective such cooperative EU arrangement…
How trust in EU institutions is linked to trust in national institutions: Explaining confidence in EU governance among national-level public officials
This article analyzes the link between trust in national institutions and trust in European Union-level institutions among national public officials. Previous research has mainly looked at citizens; in contrast, little is known about the views national officials actually hold towards European Union-level institutions or how much confidence they place in them. Our study draws on a unique survey of 670 officials in 17 European Union member states w…
Assessing the Effects of European Union Funding of Civil Society Organizations: Money for Nothing
This study investigates whether the European Union's funding of civil society organizations (CSOs) can foster equal access to existing channels of participation. This is analyzed by using data from 7,889 CSOs that are registered in the EU Transparency Register. Two criteria should be met for funding to combat inequalities among CSOs: the funding must support underrepresented interests, and it must increase their participation in the policy proces…
The Alleged Opposition Deficit in European Union Politics: Myth or Reality
According to the ‘opposition deficit thesis’ European Union politics is characterized by a conspicuous absence of opposition to the policies promoted by the EU. However, once we start looking for systematic evidence supporting the claim of an opposition deficit in EU politics, we come up surprisingly empty handed. This article seeks to rectify the lacuna in previous research by examining how much and what type of opposition actually exist in EU p…
Social Trust, Impartial Administration and Public Confidence in Eu Crisis Management Institutions
In this article, we investigate whether differences in social trust and impartial public administration have an impact on public confidence in EU crisis management institutions. Our assessment is based on a cross‐country comparison using aggregate country‐level data of the member states in the European Union. Earlier studies on the EU as a crisis manager have not carefully studied to what extent differences in social trust and administrative cult…
From landscape description to quantification: A new generation of reconstructions provides new perspectives on Holocene regional landscapes of SE Sweden
The development since the beginning of the 20th century of the pollen-analytical theory and method as a palaeoecological tool for describing landscape development is outlined with reference to southern Scandinavia. Numerical methods applied since the 1980s are discussed. The aim of this paper is to provide a new perspective on the landscape development and human impact during the Holocene by applying the Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance…
European Integration and Prime Ministerial Power: A Differential Impact on Cabinet Reshuffles in Germany and Sweden
It is commonly assumed that European integration empowers prime ministers at the expense of cabinet ministers and parliamentary actors. This article follows the suggestion that an increase in cabinet reshuffles indicates power shifts in favour of the PM, and studies reshuffles in two countries that have been involved very differently in the process of European integration, Germany and Sweden. It hypothesises that if European integration empowers …
Input and output legitimacy: Synergy or trade-off? Empirical evidence from an EU survey
Since the breakdown of the 'permissive consensus' in the early 1990s we have witnessed an input turn in the debate on EU legitimacy. Many scholars have been arguing for enhancing the input legitimacy of the EU through promoting stakeholder participation and deliberation on important European issues. Yet, others warn that this strategy might not help in increasing overall legitimacy of the EU, since increased input legitimacy could be thought to u…
Does European Integration Lead to a `Presidentialization' of Executive Politics: Ministerial Selection in Swedish Postwar Cabinets
In this article, we address recent claims that executive— legislative relations in parliamentary democracies are undergoing important changes owing to either a `presidentialization' or a `Europeanization' of domestic political systems. Therefore, we test empirically whether parliamentary democracies are indeed experiencing changes in executive—legislative relations and whether these developments can, in part, be explained by an increase in Europe…
Party Size and Portfolio Payoffs: The Proportional Allocation of Ministerial Posts in Coalition Governments
Over 30 years ago, Eric Browne and Mark Franklin demonstrated that parties in a coalition tend to receive portfolio payoffs in almost perfect proportionality to their seat share. Even though this result has been confirmed in several studies, few researchers have asked what the underlying mechanism is that explains why parties receive a proportional payoff. The aim of this paper is to investigate the causal mechanism linking party size and portfol…
Late Quaternary landscape and vegetation diversity in a North European perspective
The Structure of Conflict over EU Chemicals Policy
There is a lively academic debate over whether political cleavages in the European Union (EU) follow mainly territorial (national) or non-territorial (ideological) patterns. This article analyses the cleavages that structure the conflict over European chemicals policy, the so-called REACH system. Taking positions on this major policy as an empirical example, we test these competing theories on the nature of cleavages on environmental policy issue…
Democratizing European Chemicals Policy: Do Consultations Favour Civil Society Participation
As part of the strategy for better governance, the European Commission has taken steps towards improved consultation and dialogue on European Union (EU) policy with interested parties. Opening up the policy process and getting interest groups involved are considered important for the democratic legitimacy of EU policy making. This article examines the public Internet consultation on the Commission proposal for a new European chemicals policy, the…
Long-term changes in floristic diversity in southern Sweden: Palynological richness, vegetation dynamics and land-use
Input and output legitimacy: Synergy or trade-off? Empirical evidence from an EU survey
Since the breakdown of the 'permissive consensus' in the early 1990s we have witnessed an input turn in the debate on EU legitimacy. Many scholars have been arguing for enhancing the input legitimacy of the EU through promoting stakeholder participation and deliberation on important European issues. Yet, others warn that this strategy might not help in increasing overall legitimacy of the EU, since increased input legitimacy could be thought to u…
Party Size and Portfolio Payoffs: The Proportional Allocation of Ministerial Posts in Coalition Governments
Over 30 years ago, Eric Browne and Mark Franklin demonstrated that parties in a coalition tend to receive portfolio payoffs in almost perfect proportionality to their seat share. Even though this result has been confirmed in several studies, few researchers have asked what the underlying mechanism is that explains why parties receive a proportional payoff. The aim of this paper is to investigate the causal mechanism linking party size and portfol…
The Political Dynamics of Portfolio Design in European Democracies
The design of government portfolios – that is, the distribution of competencies among government ministries and office holders – has been largely ignored in the study of executive and coalition politics. This article argues that portfolio design is a substantively and theoretically relevant phenomenon that has major implications for the study of institutional design and coalition politics. The authors use comparative data on portfolio design refo…
Does European Integration Lead to a `Presidentialization' of Executive Politics: Ministerial Selection in Swedish Postwar Cabinets
In this article, we address recent claims that executive— legislative relations in parliamentary democracies are undergoing important changes owing to either a `presidentialization' or a `Europeanization' of domestic political systems. Therefore, we test empirically whether parliamentary democracies are indeed experiencing changes in executive—legislative relations and whether these developments can, in part, be explained by an increase in Europe…
Long-term changes in floristic diversity in southern Sweden: Palynological richness, vegetation dynamics and land-use
Democratizing European Chemicals Policy: Do Consultations Favour Civil Society Participation
As part of the strategy for better governance, the European Commission has taken steps towards improved consultation and dialogue on European Union (EU) policy with interested parties. Opening up the policy process and getting interest groups involved are considered important for the democratic legitimacy of EU policy making. This article examines the public Internet consultation on the Commission proposal for a new European chemicals policy, the…
The Alleged Opposition Deficit in European Union Politics: Myth or Reality
According to the ‘opposition deficit thesis’ European Union politics is characterized by a conspicuous absence of opposition to the policies promoted by the EU. However, once we start looking for systematic evidence supporting the claim of an opposition deficit in EU politics, we come up surprisingly empty handed. This article seeks to rectify the lacuna in previous research by examining how much and what type of opposition actually exist in EU p…
Social Trust, Impartial Administration and Public Confidence in Eu Crisis Management Institutions
In this article, we investigate whether differences in social trust and impartial public administration have an impact on public confidence in EU crisis management institutions. Our assessment is based on a cross‐country comparison using aggregate country‐level data of the member states in the European Union. Earlier studies on the EU as a crisis manager have not carefully studied to what extent differences in social trust and administrative cult…
European Integration and Prime Ministerial Power: A Differential Impact on Cabinet Reshuffles in Germany and Sweden
It is commonly assumed that European integration empowers prime ministers at the expense of cabinet ministers and parliamentary actors. This article follows the suggestion that an increase in cabinet reshuffles indicates power shifts in favour of the PM, and studies reshuffles in two countries that have been involved very differently in the process of European integration, Germany and Sweden. It hypothesises that if European integration empowers …
How trust in EU institutions is linked to trust in national institutions: Explaining confidence in EU governance among national-level public officials
This article analyzes the link between trust in national institutions and trust in European Union-level institutions among national public officials. Previous research has mainly looked at citizens; in contrast, little is known about the views national officials actually hold towards European Union-level institutions or how much confidence they place in them. Our study draws on a unique survey of 670 officials in 17 European Union member states w…
Comparing oppositional behaviour in European Union affairs: Empirical Evidence From Six Member States
This article offers a comprehensive comparison of oppositional behaviour in European Union (EU) affairs in six countries: Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. By drawing on a unique data set of hand-coded statements made by Members of Parliament during European Affairs Committee (EAC) meetings it provides new knowledge on political opposition. The data uncover that there is more opposition expressed in EU affairs tha…
The effectiveness of national and EU-level civil protection systems: Evidence From 17 Member States
A number of high profile crises and disasters have driven the EU to increase cooperation among its member states in the area of civil protection and to enhance its capacity to conduct civil protection operations in Europe and around the world. However, in the light of recent transboundary crises in the EU, manifested by the refugee crisis, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters, it is far from clear how effective such cooperative EU arrangement…
Assessing the Effects of European Union Funding of Civil Society Organizations: Money for Nothing
This study investigates whether the European Union's funding of civil society organizations (CSOs) can foster equal access to existing channels of participation. This is analyzed by using data from 7,889 CSOs that are registered in the EU Transparency Register. Two criteria should be met for funding to combat inequalities among CSOs: the funding must support underrepresented interests, and it must increase their participation in the policy proces…
Eurosceptic Challenger Parties and Political Opposition in European Union Politics: Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution
Despite extensive research on Eurosceptic challenger parties, our knowledge of their influence on political opposition has so far been sparse. In this article we make an in‐depth assessment of parliamentary EU opposition, based on 4,264 statements made by national parliamentarians in the European Affairs Committees (EACs) of Denmark and Sweden. Our analysis shows that the presence of Eurosceptic challenger parties in the national parliamentary ar…
The Structure of Conflict over EU Chemicals Policy
There is a lively academic debate over whether political cleavages in the European Union (EU) follow mainly territorial (national) or non-territorial (ideological) patterns. This article analyses the cleavages that structure the conflict over European chemicals policy, the so-called REACH system. Taking positions on this major policy as an empirical example, we test these competing theories on the nature of cleavages on environmental policy issue…
From landscape description to quantification: A new generation of reconstructions provides new perspectives on Holocene regional landscapes of SE Sweden
The development since the beginning of the 20th century of the pollen-analytical theory and method as a palaeoecological tool for describing landscape development is outlined with reference to southern Scandinavia. Numerical methods applied since the 1980s are discussed. The aim of this paper is to provide a new perspective on the landscape development and human impact during the Holocene by applying the Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance…
The influence of Eurosceptic challenger parties on mainstream party behaviour: Is oppositional behaviour contagious
Previous research has looked at how Eurosceptic challenger parties can cause mainstream parties to change their policy positions and bring about adjustments to their programmes. We explore whether this contagion effect extends to the parliamentary behaviour of mainstream parties in European Union (EU) affairs. The empirical analysis is based on a large-scale study of 6215 statements made by national parliamentarians in the European Affairs Commit…
Drivers of parliamentary opposition in European Union politics: Institutional Factors or Party Characteristics
A vital political opposition is one of the cornerstones of democracy, yet we know surprisingly little about the conditions that shape it. In this paper, we offer a comprehensive assessment of the drivers of parliamentary opposition in European Union (EU) politics in five countries: Denmark; Germany; Ireland; Sweden; and the United Kingdom. Based on an extensive hand-coded data set of 7,520 statements made by members of parliament (MPs) during bot…
Do Members of Parliament Express More Opposition in the Plenary than in the Committee? Comparing Frontstage and Backstage Behaviour in Five National Parliaments
This study attempts to break new ground by systematically comparing oppositional behaviour of Members of Parliament (MPs) in the two key arenas found in parliament: the plenary and the committee. Do MPs express more opposition frontstage in the plenary than backstage in the committee when discussing European affairs? The article sheds new light on political opposition in parliament by using a dataset of hand-coded statements made by MPs during pl…
Explaining European Union Adjustments in Sweden's Central Administration
Existing theories on why administrative reorganizations take place point in opposite directions. This article assesses which logic of action provides the most accurate characterization of reform activities in Sweden's central administration since accession to the European Union (EU) in 1995. In order to explain reorganization activities, two explanatory models are specified: a Rational Actor Model (RAM) and a Normative Organization Model (NOM). T…
Patterns of Parliamentary Opposition: Empirical Evidence from the Deliberations in the German Bundestag’s Committee on European Union Affairs
This article examines patterns of oppositional behaviour in the German Bundestag’s Committee on European Union Affairs (EAC) for two separate legislative periods (2005–2009 and 2009–2013). The study makes two contributions to previous research. It, first, shed some much-needed empirical light on political opposition in the Bundestag by examining how much and what kind of opposition exists in the German EAC. Secondly, the article examines the diff…
Democratizing European Chemicals Policy: Do Consultations Favour Civil Society Participation
As part of the strategy for better governance, the European Commission has taken steps towards improved consultation and dialogue on European Union (EU) policy with interested parties. Opening up the policy process and getting interest groups involved are considered important for the democratic legitimacy of EU policy making. This article examines the public Internet consultation on the Commission proposal for a new European chemicals policy, the…
Long-term changes in floristic diversity in southern Sweden: Palynological richness, vegetation dynamics and land-use
Explaining European Union Adjustments in Sweden's Central Administration
Existing theories on why administrative reorganizations take place point in opposite directions. This article assesses which logic of action provides the most accurate characterization of reform activities in Sweden's central administration since accession to the European Union (EU) in 1995. In order to explain reorganization activities, two explanatory models are specified: a Rational Actor Model (RAM) and a Normative Organization Model (NOM). T…
Late Quaternary landscape and vegetation diversity in a North European perspective
The Structure of Conflict over EU Chemicals Policy
There is a lively academic debate over whether political cleavages in the European Union (EU) follow mainly territorial (national) or non-territorial (ideological) patterns. This article analyses the cleavages that structure the conflict over European chemicals policy, the so-called REACH system. Taking positions on this major policy as an empirical example, we test these competing theories on the nature of cleavages on environmental policy issue…
Does European Integration Lead to a `Presidentialization' of Executive Politics: Ministerial Selection in Swedish Postwar Cabinets
In this article, we address recent claims that executive— legislative relations in parliamentary democracies are undergoing important changes owing to either a `presidentialization' or a `Europeanization' of domestic political systems. Therefore, we test empirically whether parliamentary democracies are indeed experiencing changes in executive—legislative relations and whether these developments can, in part, be explained by an increase in Europe…
Party Size and Portfolio Payoffs: The Proportional Allocation of Ministerial Posts in Coalition Governments
Over 30 years ago, Eric Browne and Mark Franklin demonstrated that parties in a coalition tend to receive portfolio payoffs in almost perfect proportionality to their seat share. Even though this result has been confirmed in several studies, few researchers have asked what the underlying mechanism is that explains why parties receive a proportional payoff. The aim of this paper is to investigate the causal mechanism linking party size and portfol…
Input and output legitimacy: Synergy or trade-off? Empirical evidence from an EU survey
Since the breakdown of the 'permissive consensus' in the early 1990s we have witnessed an input turn in the debate on EU legitimacy. Many scholars have been arguing for enhancing the input legitimacy of the EU through promoting stakeholder participation and deliberation on important European issues. Yet, others warn that this strategy might not help in increasing overall legitimacy of the EU, since increased input legitimacy could be thought to u…
European Integration and Prime Ministerial Power: A Differential Impact on Cabinet Reshuffles in Germany and Sweden
It is commonly assumed that European integration empowers prime ministers at the expense of cabinet ministers and parliamentary actors. This article follows the suggestion that an increase in cabinet reshuffles indicates power shifts in favour of the PM, and studies reshuffles in two countries that have been involved very differently in the process of European integration, Germany and Sweden. It hypothesises that if European integration empowers …
From landscape description to quantification: A new generation of reconstructions provides new perspectives on Holocene regional landscapes of SE Sweden
The development since the beginning of the 20th century of the pollen-analytical theory and method as a palaeoecological tool for describing landscape development is outlined with reference to southern Scandinavia. Numerical methods applied since the 1980s are discussed. The aim of this paper is to provide a new perspective on the landscape development and human impact during the Holocene by applying the Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance…
Social Trust, Impartial Administration and Public Confidence in Eu Crisis Management Institutions
In this article, we investigate whether differences in social trust and impartial public administration have an impact on public confidence in EU crisis management institutions. Our assessment is based on a cross‐country comparison using aggregate country‐level data of the member states in the European Union. Earlier studies on the EU as a crisis manager have not carefully studied to what extent differences in social trust and administrative cult…
Assessing the Effects of European Union Funding of Civil Society Organizations: Money for Nothing
This study investigates whether the European Union's funding of civil society organizations (CSOs) can foster equal access to existing channels of participation. This is analyzed by using data from 7,889 CSOs that are registered in the EU Transparency Register. Two criteria should be met for funding to combat inequalities among CSOs: the funding must support underrepresented interests, and it must increase their participation in the policy proces…
The Alleged Opposition Deficit in European Union Politics: Myth or Reality
According to the ‘opposition deficit thesis’ European Union politics is characterized by a conspicuous absence of opposition to the policies promoted by the EU. However, once we start looking for systematic evidence supporting the claim of an opposition deficit in EU politics, we come up surprisingly empty handed. This article seeks to rectify the lacuna in previous research by examining how much and what type of opposition actually exist in EU p…
Eurosceptic Challenger Parties and Political Opposition in European Union Politics: Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution
Despite extensive research on Eurosceptic challenger parties, our knowledge of their influence on political opposition has so far been sparse. In this article we make an in‐depth assessment of parliamentary EU opposition, based on 4,264 statements made by national parliamentarians in the European Affairs Committees (EACs) of Denmark and Sweden. Our analysis shows that the presence of Eurosceptic challenger parties in the national parliamentary ar…
Patterns of Parliamentary Opposition: Empirical Evidence from the Deliberations in the German Bundestag’s Committee on European Union Affairs
This article examines patterns of oppositional behaviour in the German Bundestag’s Committee on European Union Affairs (EAC) for two separate legislative periods (2005–2009 and 2009–2013). The study makes two contributions to previous research. It, first, shed some much-needed empirical light on political opposition in the Bundestag by examining how much and what kind of opposition exists in the German EAC. Secondly, the article examines the diff…
The effectiveness of national and EU-level civil protection systems: Evidence From 17 Member States
A number of high profile crises and disasters have driven the EU to increase cooperation among its member states in the area of civil protection and to enhance its capacity to conduct civil protection operations in Europe and around the world. However, in the light of recent transboundary crises in the EU, manifested by the refugee crisis, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters, it is far from clear how effective such cooperative EU arrangement…
How trust in EU institutions is linked to trust in national institutions: Explaining confidence in EU governance among national-level public officials
This article analyzes the link between trust in national institutions and trust in European Union-level institutions among national public officials. Previous research has mainly looked at citizens; in contrast, little is known about the views national officials actually hold towards European Union-level institutions or how much confidence they place in them. Our study draws on a unique survey of 670 officials in 17 European Union member states w…
Comparing oppositional behaviour in European Union affairs: Empirical Evidence From Six Member States
This article offers a comprehensive comparison of oppositional behaviour in European Union (EU) affairs in six countries: Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. By drawing on a unique data set of hand-coded statements made by Members of Parliament during European Affairs Committee (EAC) meetings it provides new knowledge on political opposition. The data uncover that there is more opposition expressed in EU affairs tha…
The Political Dynamics of Portfolio Design in European Democracies
The design of government portfolios – that is, the distribution of competencies among government ministries and office holders – has been largely ignored in the study of executive and coalition politics. This article argues that portfolio design is a substantively and theoretically relevant phenomenon that has major implications for the study of institutional design and coalition politics. The authors use comparative data on portfolio design refo…
Is Oppositional Behaviour in European Union Affairs Gendered? Evidence from Plenary Debates and Committee Deliberations in Four Legislatures
Is oppositional behaviour in legislatures gendered? Despite a growing literature on gender and legislative behaviour, there is a conspicuous absence of research on differences between female and male members of parliament (MPs) when it comes to one of the key aspects of parliamentary debates: the voicing of opposition. This article connects the literature on gender and legislative behaviour with opposition scholarship. We examine the role of gend…
The influence of Eurosceptic challenger parties on mainstream party behaviour: Is oppositional behaviour contagious
Previous research has looked at how Eurosceptic challenger parties can cause mainstream parties to change their policy positions and bring about adjustments to their programmes. We explore whether this contagion effect extends to the parliamentary behaviour of mainstream parties in European Union (EU) affairs. The empirical analysis is based on a large-scale study of 6215 statements made by national parliamentarians in the European Affairs Commit…
Drivers of parliamentary opposition in European Union politics: Institutional Factors or Party Characteristics
A vital political opposition is one of the cornerstones of democracy, yet we know surprisingly little about the conditions that shape it. In this paper, we offer a comprehensive assessment of the drivers of parliamentary opposition in European Union (EU) politics in five countries: Denmark; Germany; Ireland; Sweden; and the United Kingdom. Based on an extensive hand-coded data set of 7,520 statements made by members of parliament (MPs) during bot…
Do Members of Parliament Express More Opposition in the Plenary than in the Committee? Comparing Frontstage and Backstage Behaviour in Five National Parliaments
This study attempts to break new ground by systematically comparing oppositional behaviour of Members of Parliament (MPs) in the two key arenas found in parliament: the plenary and the committee. Do MPs express more opposition frontstage in the plenary than backstage in the committee when discussing European affairs? The article sheds new light on political opposition in parliament by using a dataset of hand-coded statements made by MPs during pl…
Dimensions of disagreement in EU affairs: Is parliamentary opposition driven by left-right or European integration contestation
This study provides new insights into how the EU dimension relates to the left-right dimension in national politics. It does so by examining to what extent parties’ oppositional behaviour in EU affairs in parliament is a function of their distance from the government, other parties, the voters and party supporters on the EU dimension and the left-right dimension, respectively. The results suggest that oppositional behaviour is determined by two p…
Political intolerance in comprehensive welfare states: Evidence from Sweden
Previous research has shown that comprehensive welfare states are effective at bridging ethnic divisions and promoting political tolerance of marginalized groups. Do these results hold up in the face of the great influx of migrants into European welfare states following the 2015–16 refugee crisis? In this case study of Sweden, we map the general level of political tolerance and test various individual‐level explanations for it. Based on a survey …
Political science (22 works) · Law (20 works) · Law (20 works) · Politics (20 works) · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies (16 works) · Public Administration (16 works) · Public Administration (16 works) · European union (15 works) · European Union Policy and Governance (15 works) · Economics (12 works)